CometCon – December 2024

Written by Michelle Wong – Marketing Specialist

!CometCon December 2024 Illustrated Astronaut in Space with planet and space drawings

We’re back with the fifth edition of CometCon, this time a mini 3-day version of our company-wide internal conference. Twice a year, local and remote team members gather at Comet HQ for CometCon for team bonding, fun activities, presentations, and collaboration.

Here are some highlights of our end of year CometCon:

!Comet Backup CometCon December 2024 Photo Collage

Speaker Series

At each CometCon, team members from each department are welcome to lead a presentation or workshop. This time we had six different talks from the Marketing, Product, Developer, Software Testing, Sales, and Customer Success teams.

Sharing knowledge and insights cross-functionally is always a big part of CometCon. Many of the presentations focused on how we can improve the product and experience for our Comet Community.

In-Person Connection

One of our favorite parts of CometCon is getting everyone together to hangout and connect throughout the week. While those of us at Comet HQ enjoy our hybrid model of working a few days in the office and a few days remote each week, it’s valuable for everyone to spend dedicated time together, especially for the fully remote team members.

During CometCon the dev teams can have their standup meetings in person, discuss and workshop ideas, and have water cooler chats (or in our case, coffee machine chat), things you can’t replicate as naturally over Slack. We believe important topics get surfaced and new ideas are sparked in a deeply human way when we gather together in person.

Team Activities (aka Mandatory Fun)

It wouldn’t be CometCon without some fun team activities! We headed off-site to a local café for a mystery event lead by our General Manager, Josh. This team activity involved creative problem solving, brainstorming ideas, and teamwork.

Next, we headed over to a Battle Axe Throwing spot for a bit of fun. We channeled our inner Viking / lumberjack and teamed up for a few games. Flannel was worn. Axes were thrown. Fun was had by everyone.

End of Year Celebration & Prize Giving

We wrapped up CometCon with our End of Year holiday party and prizegiving to celebrate some milestones and special awards for our Comet team members.

##### Long Service Awards

• Suprio Das, Developer – 5 years
• Josh Flores, General Manager – 12 years

##### Graduation from Junior Dev program

• Liam Green, Developer

##### Best CometCon Talk

• Michelle, Marketing – Winner
• Callum, Product – Runner Up

##### December Team Nomination

• JC, Developer

##### Special Thanks

• Leandra, for organizing CometCon and keeping the office running smoothly behind the scenes

2024 Monthly Team Nominations


Earlier this year we started a new initiative, Team Nominations, where we acknowledge our teammates at Comet. At the end of each month, anyone at the company can submit a Team Nomination to give kudos and shoutouts to someone they work with who they feel deserves to be recognized for their work. The nominees are given a shout out during our Friday team meeting at the end of each month, and a prize goes to the top nominee. Congratulations to this year’s winners!

• December – JC, Developer
• November – Alex, Sales
• October – Mike A, Developer Team Lead
• September– Rhane, Developer
• August – Ben Frengley, Developer
• July – Xavier, Customer Success
• June – Michelle, Marketing

That’s a wrap

There’s always such a buzz in the office for the week of CometCon, and this mini CometCon was no exception. It was great to get everyone together for collaboration, connection, and celebration as we wrap up 2024 and look forward to next year. We can’t wait to bring you on the journey with us for what’s next for Comet in 2025!

!CometCon December 2024 Team Photo at Axe Throwing

!About Michelle Wong Comet Backup Marketing Specialist